SECRETARY'S REPORT V 



ing of a lithograph ; and in history, a walnut chest of drawers once 

 owned by Jonathan Edwards, an unusual group of ship models for 

 the new hall of naval history, and the saddles and equine equipment 

 and the library of Gen. John J. Pershing. 



Members of the staff conducted field work in Honduras, Dominican 

 Republic, Panama, Colombia, British North Borneo, Brazil, Ryukyu 

 Islands, Mexico, Alaska, and many sections of the United States. 

 The Museum issued 27 publications during the year. 



National Gallery of Art.— Visitors to the Gallery during the year 

 numbered 1,522,596, a slight increase over the previous year. The 

 Gallery received 1,891 accessions, by gift, loan, or deposit. Works of 

 art accepted included paintings by Winslow Homer, J. J. and J. W. 

 Audubon, Thomas Stephens, Tintoretto, Corot, Healy, Turner, Trum- 

 bull, Hogarth, Sargent, and Alvan Clark ; 15 bronzes by Daumier ; and 

 several groups of prints and drawings. Ten special exhibits were 

 held at the Gallery during the year. Traveling exhibitions of prints 

 from the Rosenwald Collection were circulated to 19 galleries and 

 museums in this country, and one exhibit traveled in Germany. 

 Exhibitions from the "Index of American Design" were shown 78 

 times in 20 States and the District of Columbia and also in Europe. 

 More than 36,000 persons attended the Gallery's special tours and the 

 "Picture of the Week" talks ; more than 14,000 the Sunday afternoon 

 lectures. The Sunday evening concerts were continued. Construction 

 of five new galleries, begun in 1950, was completed. 



National Collection of Fine Arts.— The Smithsonian Art Commis- 

 sion met on December 4, 1951, and accepted for the National Collection 

 2 oil paintings, 2 sculptures, 5 pieces of ceramics, several items of 

 glassware, and 1 water-color miniature on ivory. Eight miniatures 

 were acquired through the Catherine Walden Myer fund. Fifty-four 

 oil paintings by Edwin Scott were added to the Alice Pike Barney 

 Memorial Collection, and $5,000 was added to the Barney fund. 

 The Gallery held 10 special exhibits during the year. Under the 

 direction of Mrs. John A. Pope, a Smithsonian traveling exhibition 

 service was inaugurated, financed partly through the Barney fund 

 and partly from a grant made by the Department of State. 



Freer Gallery of Art.— Purchases for the Freer collections included 

 Chinese bronzes, paintings, and pottery; an Egyptian bronze incense 

 burner; Persian metal work; an Indian painting with Persian verse; 

 and a seventh-century Japanese bronze sculpture. The staff members 

 studied new accessions, examined objects contemplated for purchase, 

 and pursued their researches in oriental and Islamic art. A technical 

 research laboratory, with Rutherford J. Gettens in charge, was com- 

 pleted and began a new phase of Gallery activity — the investigation 

 of material and techniques of the artists and craftsmen represented 



